Central Michigan University's annual Opus fundraiser features composition from School of Music sophomore

College of Communication and Fine Arts Dean, Salma Ghanem speaks before the performances at Opus XVI in the Music Building at Central Michigan University Saturday, April 6, 2013. (Sun photo by KEN KADWELL/@KenKadwell).

Central Michigan University student Dominic Bierenga spent two days over winter break composing an ensemble piece for Opus.

He also spent the fall semester composing his own CD.

Which is quite a feat, professor John Nichol said, considering Bierenga is 18.

“He’s not only a brilliant saxophonist, playing classical and jazz, but he also is a marvelous composer and arranger,” Nichol said. “He seems to be able to produce music as a composer and a performer that’s beyond his years.”

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Nichol teaches saxophone lessons to Bierenga and coaches the CMU School of Music’s saxophone quartet.

Bierenga performed Please Come Together for the Common Man at CMU’s 16th annual Opus fundraiser Saturday night.

He said he developed the piece on New Year’s Eve.

“It’s kind of a political thing,” he said.

Bierenga had been listening to Charles Mingus, a political musician, at the time, and wrote the piece to convey his feelings about the tax hike.

“Without trying to be partisan, I just kind of wanted the two sides to come together on an agreement, because nobody wants a tax hike,” he said.

Bierenga said he never stops composing music.

Bierenga said he composed every song on the album, Like This, with the school’s small big band.

The CD has seven tracks, varying between about five to nine minutes.

“We had enough tunes to record, and I’m one of those people who just really loves the atmosphere of a recording studio,” he said. “I wanted to kind of have a record of what we were doing at the time.”

Bierenga said he started playing the saxophone in middle school, but played piano and wrote music before he joined his school’s band.

He started composing and arranging at the age of eight, but seriously started composing in high school.

He graduated from Thornapple Kellogg in Middleville, which had a very good music program for the size of the school, Bierenga said.

While he would love to become a performing jazz musician, Bierenga said, it is hard to make a living in that career field.

Bierenga hopes to obtain his doctorate degree and become a music professor at a university.

“It’s really the only thing that I can imagine myself doing,” he said. “I can’t imagine life without music.”

Nina Nash-Robertson, School of Music faculty member, said Opus started as a collage concert in Plachta Auditorium.

When the music building was constructed, staff decided to turn Opus into a fundraiser and celebrate the new building.

“It’s taken on a life of its own,” she said. “It’s different each year.”

Director of Music Events John Jacobson said that while Opus is a fundraiser, which raises money for student scholarships, it is also a chance for both CMU to showcase its musicians, and for musicians to get experience performing for crowds.

The event is a large alumni draw, Jacobson said.

All of the students who perform at the event auditioned in early February.

Including production staff, 125 students performed at Opus.

The School of Music teaches 400 undergraduate students and 100 graduate students.

Randi Shaffer can be reached at 989-779-6059, rshaffer@michigannewspapers.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/randi.shaffer.

About the Author

Randi Shaffer has been the Isabella County reporter for the Morning Sun since 2012. An alumna of CMU, she is in the process of obtaining her MSA degree. Obsessions include hockey, yoga and vegetables. Reach the author at rshaffer@michigannewspapers.com
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